(Photo Credit: Spenser Heaps, Deseret News, Feb. 5, 2019)
WEST VALLEY – The friends and family of a 15-year-old boy who was shot and killed in West Valley last night are holding a vigil in his honor tonight. Meanwhile, we’re getting a clearer picture about what led up to the shooting.
Police say the witnesses inside the home where it happened insist it was an accident. However, West Valley PD Spokesperson Roxeanne Vainuku says the 14-year-old suspect had been handling the weapon before firing.
“At one point, he pointed that weapon toward the 15-year-old and pulled the trigger,” she says.
Whether or not the suspect had intended to harm Marquez Grajada is not known. Vainuku says it took them a while to find the suspect since he left the home after it happened.
“It took us a little while to get through interviewing the witnesses who were there at the house to figure out that this 14-year-old had been there as well. We were able to track him down,” Vainuku adds.
Officers also executed a search warrant on the house where the shooting happened.
Vainuku says, “We were able to locate two guns inside the house, but, right now, it’s not clear whether either of those guns was the one used in the actual shooting.”
The alleged shooter was booked into the juvenile facility on criminal homicide charges.
“That charge allows for the possibility of that this could have just been negligence, and it also allows for the possibility that this could have been intentional,” according to Vainuku.